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Deciding on a Oneworld Frequent Flyer Program? Help is here.
number of threads have been started with members asking for guidance on which mileage program they should join. In order to help users we have started this thread to allow people to post their requests for information here and to allow people to offer assistance.
Best Oneworld Frequent Flyer Program for you? The answer to this question depends very much on your personal travel profile and objectives. - what is your definition of best? - do you value miles/points (or equivalent) for redemption over gaining status? - do you fly enough to gain any meaningful status? - what do you want to use the miles/points for (award, upgrade, hotels, what ever)? - what sort of flight award is of interest (destination, class of travel)? - are you interested in topping up by paying cash for miles? - which airline and where do you normally fly? - are you primarily a leisure or business traveller? - where do you live? - do you have other ways of earning points in the various programs, e.g. credit cards, shopping, etc,? - there is a big difference between a frequent flyer and a frequent spender getting ff miles from a credit card - etc, etc, etc (above copied in part from a post by dunk) Questions For members asking for information, to help people to assist you, can you please provide: (1) What is most important to you in a FFP? (upgrades on travel, priority services when flying the airline, extra baggage allowance, good award redemption rates, better award access, free - discounted lounge access, etc.) Reply: (2) How many miles do you usually fly each year & in what class? How many flights/sectors? (<25000, 25000-50000, >50000 miles - <25, 25-50, >50 flights?) Reply: (3) What types of fares do you usually buy? (First, Business, Premium economy, Economy, cheapest) Reply: (4) Can you choose your airlines and/or class of service? Do you travel for work and/or pleasure? Reply: (5) Which routes and airlines do you fly most often? (US Domestic, Transpacific, Kangaroo, in Asia etc) Reply: (6) What is your home airport? (SFO, SCL, London LHR, HKG, Singapore SIN etc.) Reply: (7) Do you have FFP status of any kind in OW or other airline? What is it? Do you have any miles banked in a FFP? (AA Executive Platinum, QF Gold, UA 1K, LAN Comodoro, etc) Reply: (8) Preferred Airlines? Most common Airlines flown on? Reply: __________________________________________________ ____________________ Oneworld airlines are listed in this link For advice on the intricacies of each airline frequent flyer program [FFP] please refer to the the airline web sites and the airline specific forums (as blue links below)
Future OneWorld airlines:- OneWorld members elect link here - Aer Lingus some time Maybe Owned by IAG who also own BA & IB - Kingfisher, of India, is/was on "elect" list but has ceased operation Also worth looking at (from OneWorld.com) - OW Member Airline Programs - OW tier status tool - OW Lounge access - Overview of Frequent Flyer Programs by FLYGVA - AA Elite Status Flyerguide wiki - AA Miles and Points Flyerguide wiki - Earning Non-Air AA Mileage Flyerguide wiki - AAdvantage Participating Airlines Upgrades (on BA, IB) - - https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/amer...ep-2015-a.html - AA offers UA elite status matches / challenges (consolidated) - Elite Status Match by American Airlines (consolidated) - https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/amer...-platinum.html - https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/amer...gram-come.html - https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/amer...solidated.html - Post 982 Some AA vs BA ffp difference - https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/brit...ing-avios.html BA Executive Club wiki - https://www.owenrudge.net/utils/bacalc/ by orudge - Visualizing the Avios Award charts on a map - https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/finn...ads-index.html - - Statusmatcher.com Interesting, but not 100% accurate for status benefits IMHO - 02 Nov 2011 finnair.com for all your OW-partner MMB / manage my booking needs? You bet! Useful ! - 10 Aug 2012 https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/brit...f-schemes.html - 12 Dec 2012 Comparing Oneworld FF programs from Aust Freq Flyer - 13 Apr 2014 https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/trav...demptions.html - 20 Oct 2015 https://www.flyora.com/ compare Oneworld frequent flyer programs flight by flight analysis by d00t? Frequent Flyer Programs (FFP) are not equal. 1 (one) mile/km/point of FFP’s are not equal (just like currencies) Each airline FFP has different benefits from status. Each airline FFP has different rules for earning and retaining status. Each airline FFP has different rules for earning miles/km/points/avios. Each airline FFP has different rules to stop miles/km/points/avios from expiring. Each airline FFP has different rules for using (burning) those miles/km/points/avios for awards and different copay $$ fees. Each airline FFP has different rules for upgrades & different copay $$ fees. Each airline FFP has different rules for lounge access (own & other airlines) Earning depends on fare booking class (which is different to cabin) This web sites give information on earning (but may not be accurate: use at your own risk) https://www.flyora.com/ Oneworld Frequent Flyer Points Calculator by d00t www.wheretocredit.com Earn/burn Some airlines have better earning/redemption charts for your pattern. For example, if you fly on cheap fares on a certain airline often, Airline ABC might give you miles for it, while Airline XYZ might not or give fewer miles. However Airline ABC might charge much more miles and/or cash surcharges for the award flight than does Airline XYZ. Earn to burn is what matters. Award flights with your airline, other OneWorld airlines and your airlines non-alliance FFP partners are subject to availability & the rules of your airlines FFP. OneWorld airline FFP's do not have the same non-alliance airline partners. https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/mile...aluations.html Airlines tend to give members of their own frequent flyer program better service, than members of other frequent flyer programs. The airline you fly with the most will often have inherent home scheme advantages. If you fly one of these airlines, it is recommended that you choose that airline. As a very general rule, it's best to maintain status on the airline you mostly fly, other things being equal. Often status on the carrier being flown gets you access to special seats or even eligibility for upgrades. It will matter more than alliance status during IROPs and might give you higher priority for OPUPs. With airline partners you can fly an airline and may be able to collect frequent flyer miles with another airlines frequent flyer program. Some low cost fares can earn nil miles/points in your FFP, especially if not flown on your own airline. That said, a good indicator is always to look at the program of the airline you are flying with and check the partners whose flights you can credit to it. The option to credit flights is typically a reciprocal benefit between FFPs. But you always have to double check on the website of the program you want to credit to. (thanks to a post by cityflyer369) Expiry For low miles/points/avios/km balance it is better to keep all in one FFP, and not have multiple accounts. Expiry will happen if you are not careful. A very good summary about expiry of OW airline miles/avios/points in post 554 (updated 13 Sept 2014) . A little more in post 573 Frequent Flyer Mileage Expiry by KiwiFlyer (01 Feb 2010). More here in Airline Miles Expiration Policies Roundup in The Points Guy blog (17 April 2013) https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/mile...-t-expire.html Retro credit of flights taken before signing up to a FFP varies by airline. For many you need to be a signed up member at the date of the flight. Keep the physical boarding passes.
Upgrades For upgrades the general rule is you can only upgrade a flight marketed (flight number) and operated (metal) by the airline of your freq flyer programme (no codeshares) with your airlines upgrade instrument (e.g. SWU, miles) or complementary with status (if applicable). All subject to the t&c's of your FFP and your paid ticket. Low cost tickets are often not eligible for upgrades. However as is the way with FFP's there are some upgrade exceptions
Unlike Star Alliance, Oneworld does not have alliance wide recognition of some/all your airline FFP benefits (eg baggage allowance, priority boarding). Edit:- From 01 Feb 2013 top tier Emerald status OW passengers get alliance wide extra baggage allowance Edit:- From 01 Dec 2014 Priority baggage for Emerald & Sapphire and additional checked baggage allowance for Sapphire From a post on 2 Feb 2013
Originally Posted by Gardyloo
(Post 20172007)
< snip>
To get your feet wet, start by reading the sticky threads in this and other forums. What you need to do is look at your flying (and credit card, if applicable) patterns and preferences, then pick a program that works best for you. While miles/points aren't interchangeable, you can usually use one airline's miles/points for redemptions on that airline's partners - either in the same alliance or in some cases unaligned partners - or for non-flying activities. Each airline has different "earning and burning" characteristics - how miles/points are earned and used, and you'll need to investigate these carefully, as the differences can be significant and expensive (or beneficial) to you depending on your choices. One important thing to note is that miles/points earning and redemption are only a part of the whole FF business. A big factor in choosing your plan preferences is whether you'd fly enough with your chosen airline(s) in order to reach elite frequent flyer status. With elite status comes various perks - access to lounges, expedited passage through airports, seat selections, upgrades, baggage allowances, etc. - that can be as important if not more important to frequent travellers. So those factors also need to be understood as you make your choices. It involves homework and research, but the rewards can be very significant, well worth the effort. (Or so many of us think. Of course we can be both delusional and exhibit OCD symptoms in this regard. Welcome to the madhouse.)
Other information
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Perfect timing! Currently, I am US/Canada-based and am *G with AC. I also have AA status because my employer participates in the AAirpass program. Starting mid-next year, I will be moving to HK for at least 1 year (but maybe longer). I'm wondering whether I should switch my OW FFP to CX starting Jan 1, 2012.
1) What is your home airport? Reply: Will become HKG (currently EWR & YOW). (2) How many miles do you usually fly each year & in what class? Reply: Flew ~95k miles in 2011, mostly with *A. Expect to fly ~70k miles in 2012, and would like allocate half of that to *A to retain *G status with AC. (3) What types of fares do you usually buy? Reply: Ex-US work travel (approx. ~45k in 2011) is in Business. The rest in Economy. (4) Can you choose your airlines and/or, class of service? Do you travel for work and/or pleasure? Reply: Some (but not complete) flexibility in airline choice when work-related. (5) Which routes do you fly most often? Reply: Mostly within Asia with some transpacific travel after my move. (6) Do you have FFP status of any kind of OW or other airline at present? Reply: AA Gold (through AAirpass) and AC Elite. (7) What is most important to you in a FFP? Reply: Lounge access and priority services. (8) Preferred Airlines Reply: CX in OW; AC in *A. |
I'm going to make this thread "sticky" as these questions come up frequently.
Gardyloo Oneworld moderator |
Originally Posted by AC888
(Post 17608681)
Perfect timing! Currently, I am US/Canada-based and am *G with AC. I also have AA status because my employer participates in the AAirpass program. Starting mid-next year, I will be moving to HK for at least 1 year (but maybe longer). I'm wondering whether I should switch my OW FFP to CX starting Jan 1, 2012.
1) What is your home airport? Reply: Will become HKG (currently EWR & YOW). (2) How many miles do you usually fly each year & in what class? Reply: Flew ~95k miles in 2011, mostly with *A. Expect to fly ~70k miles in 2012, and would like allocate half of that to *A to retain *G status with AC. (3) What types of fares do you usually buy? Reply: Ex-US work travel (approx. ~45k in 2011) is in Business. The rest in Economy. (4) Can you choose your airlines and/or, class of service? Do you travel for work and/or pleasure? Reply: Some (but not complete) flexibility in airline choice when work-related. (5) Which routes do you fly most often? Reply: Mostly within Asia with some transpacific travel after my move. (6) Do you have FFP status of any kind of OW or other airline at present? Reply: AA Gold (through AAirpass) and AC Elite. (7) What is most important to you in a FFP? Reply: Lounge access and priority services. (8) Preferred Airlines Reply: CX in OW; AC in *A. If your intra-asia economy travel is in full-fare Y, you should be able to maintain AC Elite, while earning AA PLT which earns you Oneworld Saphire. Personally, I would pour all my miles into CX or AA (if flying full economy for Asian flights, you should be able to make EXP on EQPs--Y/B and higher fares = 1.5 EQP/mile flown). CX gold will get much better recognition on CX flights than an AA EXP though. |
I posted a similar question couple of days ago, and the feedback is very helpful. I'll put my information here again so others in similar situations can have a reference.
(1) What is your home airport? Reply: TPE; TSA (downtown Taipei) (2) How many miles do you usually fly each year & in what class? Reply: 40K-50K. Mostly Y, occasionally C in transpacific flights. (3) What types of fares do you usually buy ? ( First, Business, Economy etc.) Reply: Mostly economy, occasionally business. (4) Can you choose your airlines and/or, class of service?. Do you travel for work and/or pleasure? Reply: I can choose the airline and the class of service. My travel is mostly work related. (5) Which routes do you fly most often (US Domestic, Transpacific, Kangaroo, in Asia etc) Reply: Transpacific 3 or 4 times (1 or 2 in business class, rest in economy). inter-Asia 4-5times (mostly to Tokyo, 1 or 2 to Shanghai). (6) Do you have FFP status of any kind of OW or other airline at present? What is it? (AA Executive Platinum, QF Gold, UA 1K, LAN Comodoro, etc) Reply: DL Gold. (7) What is most important to you in a FFP? (upgrades on travel, priority services when flying the airline, extra baggage allowance, good award redemption rates, better award access, free - discounted lounge access, etc.) Reply: lounge access, priority services, good award redemption rates (mostly used for inter-Asia flights) (8) Preferred Airlines Reply: JL, CX, AA |
Originally Posted by dcAA
(Post 17619382)
If maintaining AC status, you are not going to be able to get CX gold (Oneworld Saphire = lounge access) which requires you to allocate 60,000 miles to CX (transpac in J mulitplied by 1.25). However, you would be able to earn CX Silver @ 30,000 which allows lounge access for CX flights.
If your intra-asia economy travel is in full-fare Y, you should be able to maintain AC Elite, while earning AA PLT which earns you Oneworld Saphire. Personally, I would pour all my miles into CX or AA (if flying full economy for Asian flights, you should be able to make EXP on EQPs--Y/B and higher fares = 1.5 EQP/mile flown). CX gold will get much better recognition on CX flights than an AA EXP though. |
help me pick a oneworld alliance?
Hello, currently am a *G, will keep it this way as it is the best way to get out of YUL.
From time-to-time I collect on Oneworld - about 4-6 regional flights a year so looking to also collect here. Don't need gold status, just would like the flights to add up to a free one-way or return YUL-NYC kind of thing. I have had a CX membership and find that they don't honour the majority of these regional flights (usually BA, Finnair or AA). Plus the amount of work it takes to redeem a CX flight through their email-to-operator system instead of a web-based system is really fussy and annoying. Looking for an alternative on the Oneworld crew: Questions For members asking for information please help people to assist you, can you provide: (1) What is your home airport? (SFO, SCL, London LHR, HKG, Singapore SIN etc.) Reply: YUL (2) How many miles do you usually fly each year & in what class? (<25K, 25k-50k, >50k) 25k-50k in economy (not even Y, B or M usually) Reply: (3) What types of fares do you usually buy ? ( First, Business, Economy etc.) Reply: Economy only. (4) Can you choose your airlines and/or, class of service?. Do you travel for work and/or pleasure? can choose the airline, not the class, travel for work. Reply: (5) Which routes do you fly most often (US Domestic, Transpacific, Kangaroo, in Asia etc) Reply: Canada-Europe, Canada-US, flights within Europe. (6) Do you have FFP status of any kind of OW or other airline at present? What is it? (AA Executive Platinum, QF Gold, UA 1K, LAN Comodoro, etc) Reply: CX basic. :mad::td: (7) What is most important to you in a FFP? (upgrades on travel, priority services when flying the airline, extra baggage allowance, good award redemption rates, better award access, free - discounted lounge access, etc.) Reply: upgrades, good award redemption, easy booking and good crediting of flights flown on the OW system. (8) Preferred Airlines Reply: AC, Finnair, LX, BA, AF, PD, CX Thanks flyers! |
Originally Posted by YULantonym
(Post 17664056)
Hello, currently am a *G, will keep it this way as it is the best way to get out of YUL.
From time-to-time I collect on Oneworld - about 4-6 regional flights a year so looking to also collect here. Don't need gold status, just would like the flights to add up to a free one-way or return YUL-NYC kind of thing.... |
thanks Gardyloo!
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Originally Posted by Gardyloo
(Post 17664208)
It really sounds like AA is your best bet - good earning rates including improved reciprocity with BA, and IMO the best redemption rates (for now at least) in Oneworld.
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Originally Posted by dcAA
(Post 17665686)
Under normal circumstances, this would be correct, but if he is only desiring to redeem YUL to JFK, than BA would be a better bet. Without status, you will earn Avios at about the same rate as AAdvantage miles. AA charges 12,500 miles each way YUL-JFK, where as BA is 4,500 each way.
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Originally Posted by Gardyloo
(Post 17667403)
Fair enough; however the kicker with Avios is the cumulative "cost" of connecting trips. If it's YUL-JFK, you're right, it's 4500 Avios or 12,500 AA miles. If it's YUL-xJFK-LAX, it's 4500 + 12,500 (17,000) Avios vs. the same 12,500 AA. Connecting really adds up.
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Great to see a thread like this in the OW board... the *A thread is a big hit.
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Let me give this a go, just to see if I'm doing the right thing or shooting myself in the foot...
(1) home airport - SIN (but might become SYD in a year or 2) (2) miles flown each year & in what class? - 60-70k, mostly discount Y. (3) types of fares bought - mostly discount Y but look for miles-accuring fares if price differences aren't large. Y+, J if prices are very cheap. (4) choice of airlines/cabins. work and/or pleasure? - mostly pleasure - full choice of airline and cabins. (5) routes flown most often - SIN-SYD and SIN-HKG. Some regional travel, plus 1 big trip per year (e.g. Europe or America) (6) current FFP status - QF gold (7) What is most important to you in a FFP? - lounge access, priority services, good redemption rates. (in that order) (8) Preferred Airlines - none (except the few that are on my no-fly list, and they aren't in OW). |
This year I already have trips planned to LAX, DXB, TLV, (each in WT+) and 2 to PRG. If I go with BA I have a good chance of reaching 600 TP's and Silver, while if I go with American (or another miles-based FF program) I'm only looking at AA Gold. It seems like BA is the clear choice but I wanted to double-check and I'm not sure how the other OW programs work. The standard Q's and A's below:
(1) home airport - LHR (2) miles flown each year & in what class? - 20-40k, combination of discount economy and WT+. (3) types of fares bought - either a discount economy (earning reduced tier pts) or a WT+ fare (not sure of the letters for either). (4) choice of airlines/cabins. work and/or pleasure? - combination of work and pleasure (5) routes flown most often - LHR-PRG (4-6 times per year), LHR-LAX (1-2 times), and LHR-ATL (1 time max). Maybe 1-2 other trips to US or elsewhere (DXB & TLV recently) (6) current FFP status - BA Blue (Bronze soon), AA lowest. (7) What is most important to you in a FFP? - lounge access, early seat selection (when travelling w/ family) (8) Preferred Airlines - none. thanks! |
(1) home airport - GRU - São Paulo
(2) miles flown each year & in what class? - 250k all in C (3) types of fares bought - Only fly business, unless it is unavailable. Book the cheapest J class fare available. (4) choice of airlines/cabins. work and/or pleasure? I own My business so I can choose, whether for business or pleasure. I would say 80 per cent of My travel is for business and 20 per cent for leisure. (5) routes flown most often - GRU - XXX - HKG/PVG and GRU-CDG. (6) current FFP status - LH *G, JJ *G and FB silver (7) What is most important to you in a FFP? Good rates, since already get most of the other Perks for flying J anyway. (8) Preferred Airlines - SQ LX CX TK |
Originally Posted by kraftar
(Post 17684400)
This year I already have trips planned to LAX, DXB, TLV, (each in WT+) and 2 to PRG. If I go with BA I have a good chance of reaching 600 TP's and Silver, while if I go with American (or another miles-based FF program) I'm only looking at AA Gold. It seems like BA is the clear choice but I wanted to double-check and I'm not sure how the other OW programs work. The standard Q's and A's below:
(7) What is most important to you in a FFP? - lounge access, early seat selection (when travelling w/ family) |
My fares
(1) What is your home airport? (SFO, SCL, London LHR, HKG, Singapore SIN etc.)
Reply: CPH (Copenhagen) (2) How many miles do you usually fly each year & in what class? Reply: <25 (3) What types of fares do you usually buy ? ( First, Business, Economy etc.) Reply: Economy (4) Can you choose your airlines and/or, class of service?. Do you travel for work and/or pleasure? Reply: Pleasure - can choose airlines. (5) Which routes do you fly most often (US Domestic, Transpacific, Kangaroo, in Asia etc) Reply: Intra-Europe and Intercontinental and US Domestic (6) Do you have FFP status of any kind of OW or other airline at present? What is it? (AA Executive Platinum, QF Gold, UA 1K, LAN Comodoro, etc) Reply: Eurobonus Basic (7) What is most important to you in a FFP? (upgrades on travel, priority services when flying the airline, extra baggage allowance, good award redemption rates, better award access, free - discounted lounge access, etc.) Reply: upgrade on travels, Priority service, Lounges (8) Preferred Airlines Reply: None Flying to PHX and/or LAX, then MCO and MCO-CPH home. + Trip to Berlin. next year. |
Originally Posted by PowellM
(Post 17708959)
(1) What is your home airport? (SFO, SCL, London LHR, HKG, Singapore SIN etc.)
Reply: CPH (Copenhagen) (2) How many miles do you usually fly each year & in what class? Reply: <25 (3) What types of fares do you usually buy ? ( First, Business, Economy etc.) Reply: Economy (4) Can you choose your airlines and/or, class of service?. Do you travel for work and/or pleasure? Reply: Pleasure - can choose airlines. (5) Which routes do you fly most often (US Domestic, Transpacific, Kangaroo, in Asia etc) Reply: Intra-Europe and Intercontinental and US Domestic (6) Do you have FFP status of any kind of OW or other airline at present? What is it? (AA Executive Platinum, QF Gold, UA 1K, LAN Comodoro, etc) Reply: Eurobonus Basic (7) What is most important to you in a FFP? (upgrades on travel, priority services when flying the airline, extra baggage allowance, good award redemption rates, better award access, free - discounted lounge access, etc.) Reply: upgrade on travels, Priority service, Lounges (8) Preferred Airlines Reply: None Flying to PHX and/or LAX, then MCO and MCO-CPH home. + Trip to Berlin. next year. If you want upgrades and are willing to pay for WT+, BA allows for very cheap upgrades to CW (note, you may need to book CPH-LHR separate from LHR-United States, as BA upgrades must be for the entire itinerary, and the CPH-LHR leg is only upgradeable if its a full fare ticket). If you are unwilling to pay for WT+, I would probably go with AA, as their miles are generally the most valuable. |
I am not sure about the 25k thing. I have 2 trips to the States + a trip to Berlin next year.
I am new here, and I tried looking in the glossary but I don't know what CW and WT+ are. Thanks for the quick response dcAA |
I know I am not a FF flier, I doubt I will ever get any status, all I am looking for is the best way to slowly accumulate miles, with the thought of eventually getting some use from them. I do like the QF A380,but, am just a budget traveller.
(1) home airport - LAX (2) miles flown each year & in what class? - <25k economy (3) types of fares bought - cheapest economy. (4) choice of airlines/cabins. work and/or pleasure? - usually pleasure - my choice, infrequently for work (5) routes flown most often - LAX- SYD, annually at most, one domestic US flight per year (6) current FFP status - QF - lowest, AA-lowest, United - lowest (7) What is most important to you in a FFP? good award redemption rates, better award access (8) Preferred Airlines - Qantas - but, an flexible |
Originally Posted by PowellM
(Post 17710451)
I am not sure about the 25k thing. I have 2 trips to the States + a trip to Berlin next year.
I am new here, and I tried looking in the glossary but I don't know what CW and WT+ are. Thanks for the quick response dcAA CW = Club World = business class on BA. Your mileage is right about 25,000. Unless you add some more flying, you're looking at being a lower level elite regardless of who you fly. BA does status on tier points, and if you pay for WT+, you may be close to BA Silver = OW Saphire and Lounge access (two TATL round trips ex-CPH in WT+ should net you over 400 tier points, with less than 200 more needed for BA Silver). |
Originally Posted by GRUflyer
(Post 17695082)
(1) home airport - GRU - São Paulo
(2) miles flown each year & in what class? - 250k all in C (3) types of fares bought - Only fly business, unless it is unavailable. Book the cheapest J class fare available. (4) choice of airlines/cabins. work and/or pleasure? I own My business so I can choose, whether for business or pleasure. I would say 80 per cent of My travel is for business and 20 per cent for leisure. (5) routes flown most often - GRU - XXX - HKG/PVG and GRU-CDG. (6) current FFP status - LH *G, JJ *G and FB silver (7) What is most important to you in a FFP? Good rates, since already get most of the other Perks for flying J anyway. (8) Preferred Airlines - SQ LX CX TK |
For those who asked about perks with relatively low flying.
If 25k is bottom tier for One World, maybe you wanna consider Star Alliance, Aegean can get you Gold at 20k per year and it is for 3yrs and I heard if you just keep it active rather than getting 20k every turnaround. Another is Asiana but you do need 40k for the 2yrs every 2yrs. Others are generally 25k for Silver and 50k for Gold. 1 or 2 can be v high ie., 100k for Gold. Gold will get you lounge access if you want that. If you want lounge access and rewards. Maybe Asiana but you need to keep up with the every 2yr thingy. Because if you do go for the cheap flights, Aegean might only give 0.70 pt per mile, and if you go too cheap some of the flights might give you NIL. This depends on the airline you are flying with as well - as they determine who cannot get points and what can and at what ratio. Not sure about upgrades. I heard the USA might be easier with that, other part of the world might be harder or near non existent. I heard that AirNZ can be done so .. but tier structure they use for their programme is quite diff to the rest of the world. Put it this way, if you are not a business traveler forget it. You need maybe 3x return USA Asia to just get Silver on economy class. Also note that BA. I tried to look it up once. I am from NZ and I could not join. Maybe they restrict it only UK or only EU or maybe they not allow some distant areas like NZ. |
It seems like the prices on *A are 1.5-2 times of other alliances. Maybe the seatings are more comfortable and the service is better, but for a budget traveler the price might put you off.
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Originally Posted by GRUflyer
(Post 17695082)
(1) home airport - GRU - São Paulo
(2) miles flown each year & in what class? - 250k all in C (3) types of fares bought - Only fly business, unless it is unavailable. Book the cheapest J class fare available. (4) choice of airlines/cabins. work and/or pleasure? I own My business so I can choose, whether for business or pleasure. I would say 80 per cent of My travel is for business and 20 per cent for leisure. (5) routes flown most often - GRU - XXX - HKG/PVG and GRU-CDG. (6) current FFP status - LH *G, JJ *G and FB silver (7) What is most important to you in a FFP? Good rates, since already get most of the other Perks for flying J anyway. (8) Preferred Airlines - SQ LX CX TK
Originally Posted by GRUflyer
(Post 17713073)
Help anyone?
Otherwise, I think it's hard to beat AA in terms of redemption rates - IF you fly in business class, where flights on most Oneworld members will earn 100% redemption mileage bonuses in addition to usual class-of-service bonuses. It really adds up. Judging from your described routes and preference for cheap J fares, you really sound like a candidate for Oneworld RTW products - maybe a couple at a time - one eastbound and one westbound. The Oneworld Explorer has unlimited mileage unlike the Star RTW products, and prices are generally better than on Star (often MUCH better) so the combination - low price per flown mile and no mileage cap (but like Star a 16-segment overall cap) might be just the ticket. Certainly it bears some scrutiny on your part - a little homework on this board will be time well spent. Combined with elite status, RTW products can be major mileage cows, and they're nowhere nearly as "inflexible" as many people think. So short answer, maybe join AA, but wait to see how LATAM shapes up before making a push for Oneworld elite status. |
Which one: * or OW?
(1) new home - LHR
(2) 2012 mileage - 100K (3) Economy fare (4) Work travel, can choose airline (5) 2012 expected R/T destinations: AMS (6x), YVR(4x), YYZ(4x), IAD(3x), RTM(3x), ZHR(3x), HEL(2x), HKG(1x), LAS(1x) -- some domestic travel once I'm in Canada, USA, NL, and FI (6) current status: UA Gold (37,9 on UA), BA Bronze (13,7) (7) MOST IMPORTANT: upgrades on travel and free lounge access I realise I've made the mistake of not consolidating my air miles in the past - ready to be loyal to one airline, but not sure which. Thinking BA since I'm flying out of LHR...? Would it be worth shifting from * to OW? So grateful for this forum! Thanks in advance |
I'm another potential AC refugee. I decided against switching last year but I'm reconsidering it again now.
(1) What is your home airport? (2) How many miles do you usually fly each year & in what class? (4) Can you choose your airlines and/or, class of service?. Do you travel for work and/or pleasure? (5) Which routes do you fly most often I fly about 30-40k miles from DUB to NYC, (work) SFO, (work) and YUL (vacation) each year. I'm pondering a vacation trip to AUS sometime in the next year though which might be instead of YUL... (3) What types of fares do you usually buy ? On AC I was paying for M fares which are about as expensive as WTP+ or equivalent. For my personal travel I book the cheapest fares usually. (6) Do you have FFP status of any kind of OW or other airline at present? What is it? I just lost AC*G :( (7) What is most important to you in a FFP? Top priority is totally upgrades. After that lounges (that have showers after red-eyes). Don't really care about the rest. What I worked out previously was that on BA if I could maintain BA Silver (which I'm not really clear on with the new rules) I could buy WTP+ on all my business flights and upgrade to CW with the miles I earn as fast as I earn them. My personal travel would be in the back of the bus. What I don't know is how any of the other OW programs stack up. Does AA have any similar benefits? AA flies direct to DUB so it would be tempting to fly them sometimes, at least for the daytime flight. If I do manage to put together a vacation to AUS obviously BA, CX, and QF are all tempting. Do any of them have any way to get into premium economy with the miles I earn on my business travel? (8) Preferred Airlines AFAIK the OW routes to DUB are either AA through ORD or BA through LHR. Are there other options I'm not thinking of? |
My post isn't so much a request for information or advice, rather, I'd like to share my route to elite status.
Vital Stats: Currently resident in YYZ, formerly EIN/MST and before then BDA. I have been an AA member since 1993 and a BAEC member from 2007. leisure flyer till 2010. Business and leisure since then. Tickets booked 'on the cheap' Major routes YYZ-LHR; YYZ-RDU; YYZ-AMS; AMS-LON BA Membership Year begins/ends: May 2 Scenarios My flights can be seen on ba97.com and below is an overview of what I would be credited to BA or AA's program for my oneworld flying BA Code:
Membership Year Reset:Code:
RDU-LGA in Discount Economy on AA: 430 EQMiles / 215 EQPointsBesides the obvious benefit of reaching a higher status tier, BA Silver also allows me to use AA's lounges domestically. A perk not extended to AA members of equivalent tier. The drawback to BA's programme is the higher cost of reward travel. However, to get the most out of my miles I intend on using them for World Traveller Plus (Eremium Economy) to Club World (Business) Upgrades. |
(1) home airport - MXP and GVA
(2) miles flown each year & in what class? - 200,000 in business (3) types of fares bought - discount business (4) choice of airlines/cabins. work and/or pleasure? - always my choice for both work and pleasure (5) routes flown most often - HKG/GVA on RJ, MXP/LHR/HKG on BA - MXP/LHR/MIA on BA - MXP/MAD/LAX on IB (6) current FFP status - BA - GOLD/EMERALD, UA - 1K (dropping UA altogether), BD - highest, A3 - (considering using them for Star) (7) What is most important to you in a FFP? good award redemption rates, ease of redemption (unlike BA) (8) Preferred Airlines - BA, CX, LX So here is my dilemma, I am BA gold but after all the changes with AVIOS, it seems like I have to pay 9000 more miles for a business flight back to my home airport. I think this is highly unacceptable. My question is would be better off going with AA? I never fly them except for trips like MIA/PLS for work and PLS/LAX, always in paid business or first. I find that AA codeshares with BA are on the whole usually $500.00 more expensive that just booking straight BA flights. One of the big things that attracted me to the AAdvantage program was RDM bonuses for Oneworld flights based on status. This means that if I fly business class from LAX to NRT on JL in business class even booked as JL flight number, I would get 5500 miles, plus 25% COS bonus, plus 100% Executive Platinum bonus. Please correct me if I am wrong but if this is the case, then this program beats BA hands down. Thanks so much for this Sticky. Its what i've been looking for. |
I'm looking at buying a RTW ticket (16 legs) from One World, so any help with which FF program to sign up for would be much appreciated. I already have a Finnair membership with zero miles, am looking at signing up somewhere possibly better.
(1) home airport - BRU (2) miles flown each year & in what class? - not much and all on *alliance so far/ Economy all the way, also for the RTW trip (3) types of fares bought - economy (4) choice of airlines/cabins. work and/or pleasure? - whoever has the cheapest fares - pleasure (5) routes flown most often - never flew OW so far, mostly travel in Europe but there might be a flight to Asia and/or USA after the RTW trip. (6) current FFP status - M&M blue (7) What is most important to you in a FFP? Free flights (8) Preferred Airlines - Mostly Quantas and Lan on the RTW trip I think. My travel agent advised me to buy the RTW ticket from OW rather than *Alliance as OW is cheaper :/ |
Originally Posted by evanderm
(Post 17722719)
My post isn't so much a request for information or advice, rather, I'd like to share my route to elite status.
I find it odd that shorthaul club europe flights earn so many tier points but long-haul economy flights earn so little. Even WTP only earns twice what a much cheaper shorthaul european flight earns. It would be neat if someone put together a webapp that let us enter a set of flights and see what would happen under multiple programs side-by-side. |
Originally Posted by zkzkz
(Post 17738681)
Thanks. This is super-useful.
I find it odd that shorthaul club europe flights earn so many tier points but long-haul economy flights earn so little. Even WTP only earns twice what a much cheaper shorthaul european flight earns. I guess it's all relative to the demand and the market. Club Europe is BA's Short-Haul Business class; Discount Euro Traveller only earns 10 TPs whereas it used to not earn any at all. BA really have to entice the (business) traveller to choose them over the competition which I feel is greatest for them in Europe. That's also why they had separate elite thresholds for European members up to this year. By giving them that bit of 'extra' recognition I'm sure they have swayed many others to go for Club over traveller. I know it's been a deciding factor for me. Of course, Joe Public doesn't often care about these things, but I'm sure that there are quite a few who do; not only here on FT. Why Long-Haul Economy only earns so little: also enticement for those 'in the know' and those who care to buy higher classes. Don't forget that flexible Economy on a route such as YYZ-LHR earns 70TPs. In turn, if tier points are what matter to you; you're more likely to buy a WT+ fare to earn 90 (which would probably be cheaper). I think BA's model not only rewards loyalty, it rewards premium loyalty with all the incentives to book into higher cabins.
Originally Posted by zkzkz
(Post 17738681)
It would be neat if someone put together a webapp that let us enter a set of flights and see what would happen under multiple programs side-by-side.
|
Hi everyone,
I need a pice of adivce from all of you. I live in Argentina (Home airports: EZE & AEP) and I fly frequently, 3 or 4 trips per year, to USA or Central America (AA or LA) and then 2 or 3 trips within Argentina (LA), and 1 trip every two years with IB. All of them economy discounted. That is approximately 25K to 40K a year per person. I have been an Executive Club member for almost 4 or 5 years. I have earned within my Household account almost 200K points. But I'm beeing scared by the fact that it it very hard to get AA or LA award tickets to USA with BA points and the taxes that BA chrges for award flights with them are understandably high, but I like the option of having a household account as each of my family members don't accrue a lor of points by them alone. LA FFP does not really catch my attention and I have some miles with AA, not much. On January I'm going on a trip to USA flying with LA and AA. What do you recommend? Staying with BA and try finding an award, changing to AA or LA? Thank you very much. |
Should i ditch BA for CX or stick with what i already have?
(1) What is your home airport? Currently LHR - but moving to HKG in a month for 1-2 years. (2) How many miles do you usually fly each year & in what class? 25-50k. (3) What types of fares do you usually buy ? If it's a narrow body usually economy, if its wide body either premium economy or business. Ill fly narrow body business if its a good price. (4) Can you choose your airlines and/or, class of service?. Do you travel for work and/or pleasure? Mostly leisure travel so i can choose. (5) Which routes do you fly most often I'll do at least one HKG to LHR/MAN each year in business. I'll also take a few long weekends around Asia over the course of the year. I may do other flights but don't know for certain yet. (6) Do you have FFP status of any kind of OW or other airline at present? What is it? I have BA Exec Club blue with approx 40k miles and an Amex 241 voucher. (7) What is most important to you in a FFP? Lounge access and free advance seat selection. (8) Preferred Airlines Reply: Any OW carrier |
Should i add BA/CX?
I want to make sure that i am putting my $$ where it can be best utilized for RTW fares and would like lounge access. Its my understanding that if i were a BA Silver/GLD i could get AC lounge access in the US by showing my ID and BA Slvr/Gld card. Am i missing something?
(1) home airport - DFW (2) miles flown each year & in what class? - 50k+ Y Discount (3) types of fares bought - discount Y (4) choice of airlines/cabins. work and/or pleasure? - always my choice for both work and pleasure although AA is preferred biz airline. (5) routes flown most often - No consistency but primarily domestic, i flew DFW-ORD 50x 1yr, another year i never flew the same route twice...depends on my projects (6) current FFP status - Currently AA Plat, will be EXP by end of the month (7) What is most important to you in a FFP? RTW Fares, Lounge access (primarily US domestic) (8) Preferred Airlines - AA, BA, CX |
(1) What is your home airport? (SFO, SCL, London LHR, HKG, Singapore SIN etc.)
Reply: BOM & DEL (2) How many miles do you usually fly each year & in what class? (<25K, 25k-50k, >50k) Reply: 25k-50k (3) What types of fares do you usually buy ? ( First, Business, Economy etc.) Reply: Economy most times, Business occasionally. (4) Can you choose your airlines and/or, class of service?. Do you travel for work and/or pleasure? Reply: I can choose airline and class or service. Travel for both work/pleasure. (5) Which routes do you fly most often (US Domestic, Transpacific, Kangaroo, in Asia etc) Reply: Within Asia and India to USA. also India domestic. (6) Do you have FFP status of any kind of OW or other airline at present? What is it? (AA Executive Platinum, QF Gold, UA 1K, LAN Comodoro, etc) Reply: Delta Silver Medallion, Kingfisher Gold, British Airways Blue. These are all mine. My wife has none and I need to start her account to accumulate miles too as she travels with me almost 100% of the time. (7) What is most important to you in a FFP? (upgrades on travel, priority services when flying the airline, extra baggage allowance, good award redemption rates, better award access, free - discounted lounge access, etc.) Reply: Upgrades on travel is most important. (8) Preferred Airlines Reply: KLM/BA to USA and no specific ones in Asia |
[B](1) What is your home airport?
Reply: DEL [B](2) How many miles do you usually fly each year & in what class? Reply:None till now.. but am looking at abt 12000 to 15000 miles each year from this year end.. Economy Class [B](3) What types of fares do you usually buy ? Reply:Economy [B](4) Can you choose your airlines and/or, class of service?. Do you travel for work and/or pleasure? Reply:Yes i can choose my airline. Itravel for both work and pleasure [B](5) Which routes do you fly most often Reply: Trans Atlantic and India to Australia.. Vacations can be anywhere [B](6) Do you have FFP status of any kind of OW or other airline at present? What is it? Reply:None [B](7) What is most important to you in a FFP? Reply:Upgrades, Extra Baggage (8) Preferred Airlines Reply:None |
Great thread!
(1) What is your home airport? (SFO, SCL, London LHR, HKG, Singapore SIN etc.)
Reply: FRA (2) How many miles do you usually fly each year & in what class? (<25K, 25k-50k, >50k) Reply: 25-50k (3) What types of fares do you usually buy ? ( First, Business, Economy etc.) Reply: Europe: economy, Longhaul: business (4) Can you choose your airlines and/or, class of service?. Do you travel for work and/or pleasure? Reply: Yes, work mainly. (5) Which routes do you fly most often (US Domestic, Transpacific, Kangaroo, in Asia etc) Reply: Europe, TATL USA (6) Do you have FFP status of any kind of OW or other airline at present? What is it? (AA Executive Platinum, QF Gold, UA 1K, LAN Comodoro, etc) Reply: *S / FTL on LH (7) What is most important to you in a FFP? (upgrades on travel, priority services when flying the airline, extra baggage allowance, good award redemption rates, better award access, free - discounted lounge access, etc.) Reply: Lounge access, priority services, upgrades (8) Preferred Airlines Reply: I usually fly *A in Europe, but now have a couple of TATL flights in C/J this year where BA is often the more cost effective option. Not partial to BA though... |
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